This invention relates generally to stationary type exercise apparatus which may be used to provide a variety of exercise systems having a manually operable drive system subject to a variable load and being operable within predetermined conditions and parameters.
It has long been known that the number of hours and severity of training are not necessarily equateable to the attained level of physical fitness. Tests of cross country skiers, cyclists, and some long distance runners have consistently shown markedly superior cardio-aerobic development as well as substantial differences in muscular stamina between athletes. Since such differences, particularly in cardio-aerobic development, persist for groups of athletes, rather than individuals, I have concluded that it is the type of activities and training environment, rather than individual differences, that produced their superiority. I have used studies of the training and competitive environments of groups of athletes having very high cardioaerobic and stamina levels to define an ENVELOPE OF CONDITIONS which is substantially more productive than prior art systems and I have designed exercise equipment operable within such envelope to achieve better results than prior art exercise systems.
During exercise, the human brain senses the status quo, then commands the muscles, causing the lungs and heart to supply the oxygen carrying blood to the points of use. The difference between benefits from exercise stems directly from the differences in the status quo presented to the brain: two people using two differently designed exercycles (for example) will benefit differently from the same time and effort on the equipment... The conditions I have found to be essential to proper "status quo", from which the best brain-muscle-heart-lung interaction results, involve an interrelationship between the following parameters:
(a) TOTAL ENERGY LEVEL stored in the exercise equipment at any point in time (lb-ft, or kg-m etc) PA1 (b) POWER (RATE of work input) NEEDED TO OVERCOME ENERGY DISSIPATION, AND MAINTAIN THAT LEVEL OF ENERGY (lb-ft/sec, or HP, watts etc) PA1 (c) POWER (RATE of work input) NEEDED TO REACH THE NEXT ENERGY LEVEL designated. }NOTE: this condition can be equally clearly defined alternately as: TIME INTERVAL IN WHICH THE NEXT DESIGNATED ENERGY LEVEL MUST BE REACHED.] PA1 (d) THE MECHANICAL RATIO (advantage or disadvantage, often referred to as "gear step-up" or "step-down") must be properly matched between the type of ENERGY STORAGE & DISSIPATION system and the type of exercise equipment (for example exercycle, rower, leg machine etc..) being utilized with it.
While the parameters a, b and c above may be used to define an ENERGY STORAGE & DISSIPATION SYSTEM essential for best yields from exercise or rehabilitation efforts, an additional condition is required for maximization of such yields which is dependent on the type of exercise equipment to be used. This additional condition is that:
One of the objects of the present invention is to provide new and improved exercise apparatus and systems which provide a maximum level of physical conditioning by cardio-aerobic type exercise simulating the characteristics of exercise during certain competitive activities such as the actual riding of a bicycle. The characteristics of exercise during actual riding of a bicycle, include, among other things, variations in wind resistance dependent upon the speed of the bicycle and riding conditions; variations in level of momentum dependent upon the speed of the bicycle and the weight of the rider and variations in load dependent upon topography, i.e. uphill, downhill and level riding conditions. At the present time cycling has become a very popular sport for both recreational riders and for large numbers of racing and cross-country bicycling enthusiasts. Indeed, the health benefits of both actual bicycle riding and the use of prior art stationary bicycle-type exercise apparatus have been long recognized by health authorities and the general public.
Some of the drawbacks of prior stationary bicycle-type exercise apparatus have included lack of similarity to actual bicycle riding conditions as well as relatively high cost of manufacture and bulkiness of the apparatus.
The apparatus of the present invention enables substantial duplication of actual bicycle riding conditions whereby the same coordination of brain, heart, lung and body muscles are used in substantially the same way as doing actual bicycle riding. The duplication of actual bicycle riding conditions is of substantial benefit to all bicycle riders and for other types of exercise. In addition, an important use of the present invention is as a rehabilitation exerciser device for physically handicapped persons and/or persons desiring higher levels of cardio-aerobic fitness. In this connection, the present invention enables smooth continuous uniform application of input force and loading of the system without the usual loss of momentum and velocity encountered in conventional type exercising apparatus.
The present invention enables the use of both (1) a self-contained type exercise apparatus including permanently mounted parts; and (2) an attachment-type exercise apparatus which may be adapted to employ portions of existing apparatus such as an actual bicycle thereby reducing cost and enabling use of exercise apparatus such as bicycles already owned and actually used by the exerciser for bicycle riding or exercise apparatus of special design. In one form of the invention, the construction and arrangement of the exercise apparatus is such as to enable mounting of a conventional bicycle on the exercise apparatus by the simple expedient of removing one of the wheels of the bicycle.
Both types of exercise apparatus are particularly adapted for use with variably selectable multiple-speed bicycle-type drive systems, such as presently commercially available three-speed, five-speed or ten-speed drive systems or, more preferably, a cam-type drive system of the type disclosed in my U.S. Pat. Nos., 4,133,550, 4,206,660, 4,281,845, 4,309,043 and 4,461,375, the disclosures of which are incorporated herein by reference. Each type of exercise apparatus comprises a relatively small size and weight fly-wheel means driven at relatively high velocities by the drive system for energy storage in accordance with pre-selected parameters, e.g. to simulate inertial and momentum forces during actual riding of a bicycle; and an automatically variable resistance load applying means driven by the drive system for automatically applying continuously variable resistance loads proportional to drive system velocity in accordance with preselected parameters, e.g. to simulate variations in resistance loads encountered during actual riding of a bicycle at varying velocities. Selectively changeable fixed resistance load applying means may be employed for selectively applying variable fixed resistance loads to the drive system to simulate fixed resistance loads variously encountered under actual bicycle riding conditions. Each type of exercise apparatus may further comprises controls and instrumentation for selective simulation of particular actual bicycle riding conditions and/or display for the exerciser of various exercise conditions, including accurate energy dissipation, both instantaneous and cummulative.
Another object of the present invention is to provide exercise apparatus which is readily adaptable for use in various kinds of exercise systems to perform various kinds and levels of exercises. For example, the present invention may be employed for leg-operated exercises of the type involving rotation of a pedal-operated rotatable drive crank or arm-operated exercises through a hand-held device or any other kind of exercise.
In general, the invention involves the use of energy storage means such as, preferably, a rotatable flywheel or other suitable devices such as compressible fluid apparatus, etc. for storage of energy and automatic variable load-applying means for dissipation of energy such as friction devices, fluid driven pumps or preferably a rotatable air brake device providing variable resistance by passage of air therethrough variably proportional to speed of rotation. In the presently preferred embodiment of the invention, a single rotatable device provides both the energy storage function and the variable load-applying function. In addition, a positive non-slip drive means, such as a toothed timing belt and toothed gear means, is employed to transmit force to the energy storage and variable load-applying means. The foregoing components of the exercise system may be constructed and arranged as a single small-size relatively low-weight, self-contained unit adapted to be operably associated with a variety of different kinds of exercise devices and/or systems. The unit comprises only a simple, low-cost one-piece support frame means, a first input shaft means for supporting a gear means, a second output shaft means for supporting the energy storage and variable resistance applying means, and a force transmission means which may include only a first gear means associated with said first input shaft means, a second gear means associated with said second output shaft means, and a continuous loop toothed belt means. Input force is transmitted to the first input shaft means through a one-way clutch-type sprocket wheel means mounted on one end of said first input shaft means. The sprocket wheel means is driven by a chain device connected to a chain-type drive system which is manually operated by a person performing a particular exercise. A variable fixed load-applying device may be associated with the apparatus to provide additional load. Suitable instrumentation and display means may be provided to accurately display various exercise conditions.
Other objects and advantages of the present invention are shown and described hereinafter.